Staging of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as a Ballet

Author: 
Year:
Pages:156
ISBN:0-7734-9856-7
978-0-7734-9856-3
Price:$139.95 + shipping
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This study focuses on three stagings of the ballet: Vincenzo Galeotti's 1811 production of ROMEO OG GIULIETTA for the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen; Leonid Lavrovsky's 1940 full-length production for the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad; and Antony Tudor's 1943 one-act production for Ballet Theatre in New York. The ballets chosen define dance tradition at a given period or extend the dance through some crucial enlargement. Also, they reflect the aesthetic theories and tastes of their choreographers, the technique and training of the dancers, modes of artistic interpretation and performance, and, finally, the politics of the country as expressed through company production policies and selections. The book uses contemporary reports, musical scores, stage plans, production pictures, journal entries and the recorded memories of the performing and producing artists.

Reviews

"It is a fascinating study, clearly and entertainingly written. A good deal of scholarly research has gone into it, but the discussion always stays specific and imagistic and never becomes pedantic. (The bibliography has given me a good reading list.). . . . The book is, in my opinion, a worthy addition to the library of Shakespearean studies." - Edward Hastings, Artistic Director of the American Conservatory Theater

". . . a must-read for not only scholars, balletomanes and anyone interested in dance based on great literature but also for the general public, especially those who have a fascination with Romeo and Juliet. . . . Ms. Howard's keen analysis of plays to ballets from the Restoration, eighteenth century, English stage ("improvements", the Irving and Garrick productions) to the more recent productions of Romeo and Juliet by Lavrovsky, Gielgud, Brook, Zeffirelli, Hall, Tudor, Ashton, MacMillan, Bejart and others, makes for fascinating reading. An excellent addition to one's dance and/or theatre library." - Michael Smuin

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